Celtic fans breathed a sigh of relief as the Rangers dropped points at the weekend against Aberdeen. In fact, it took a late penalty for them to even come out with a draw from the game. That means that the Hoops will maintain their strong position at the top of the Scottish Premiership table.
That does not mean that they should overlook the clear issues in the team right now. One of the major ones is in front of goal.
Celtic’s goal rate has dropped significantly since last season. They scored 3 goals every league game on average in the previous campaign. In comparison, they are managing just 2.5 this time around, a difference of half-a-goal every time they take to the pitch.
Also, this team starts to look out of ideas when up against resolute defences and certainly could do with more players capable of scoring consistently. Then comes the matter of the upcoming AFC Asian Cup, which might led to Kyogo and Oh Hyeon-gyu being unavailable for a significant number of games.
Celtic tipped to go for 28-year-old Premiership striker
All things considered, Celtic are expected to sign another striker in January. And Michael Stewart seems to be a big believer in Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland.
As reported by 67 Hail Hail, Stewart said while speaking on The Scottish Football Podcast:
“If you took Lawrence Shankland out of the Hearts side. I would be concerned for Hearts. He is that big of a talisman. He is starting to hit some real form. His all round game has improved dramatically over the last couple of years.”
He further went on to add:
“For me, you look at big Oh at Celtic (compared to) Lawrence Shankland. Personally, (I would go for) Lawrence Shankland. He scores goals.”
Oh has been scoring some goals for Celtic lately. But overall, he has not been very consistent in front of goal for the Hoops since arriving earlier this year from Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
Someone like Shankland could be a solid addition to this team. He has quite a bit of experience of playing in the Premiership and a proven record of scoring consistently as well. That being said, would Hearts be open to their captain leaving in the middle of the season.
This article was originally posted here